UP competing with colleges nationwide to reduce electricity and water usage from Feb. 15 - Mar. 8

College students from more than 175 schools across the country are competing to reduce energy and water consumption, and University of Portland students are joining them for the second consecutive year. During the three-week period from Feb. 15 to March 8, all ten dorms at the University are taking part in Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN) 2013, the largest nationwide electricity and water reduction competition on college and university campuses.

University of Portland is one of only three colleges in Oregon that are taking part in this national program. To learn more about the competition, join the network or follow leading schools, visit www.CompeteToReduce.org.

Last year, UP students saved 23,905 kilowatt hours – an equivalent amount to what four U.S. households consume in a year – and 10,900 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions during the three-week CCN competition. The dorms saved $1,673 in energy costs during the competition. Christie Hall is the reigning champion after cutting its energy use 24.3% compared to the same three week period from the previous year.

The 2013 competition at UP can be tracked at www.buildingdashboard.net/up. Individual dorm and national gigawatt goals can be monitored, and participating students can make specific commitments and suggestions for the competition.

UP’s involvement with Campus Conservation Nationals also incorporates educational events and community service projects, including:

For information about service projects, please contact Alyssa Thornburg at thornbur14@up.edu.

The University’s participation in CCN is led by student leaders from the Moreau Center, the College Ecology Club and Residence Life.

Participating in CCN is just the latest in the University’s ongoing sustainability efforts: the University was the first college on the West Coast to discontinue the sale of disposable plastic water bottles on campus; has several LEED-certified buildings on campus, including the award-winning LEED Platinum Shiley Hall and LEED Gold Fields and Schoenfeldt Halls; has witnessed record use of alternative transportation options; has enacted a Climate Action Plan with the goal of being completely carbon neutral by 2040; and has reduced food waste by 70 percent in its dining facilities.

The University of Portland is Oregon's Catholic university and has been closely affiliated for more than a century with the Congregation of Holy Cross in South Bend, Indiana.
U.S. News & World Report ranks the institution as one of the top ten regional universities in the American West.
It is the only school in Oregon to offer a College of Arts & Sciences, a graduate school, and nationally accredited programs in the schools of business, education, engineering, and nursing.